Talk:Umzamo Wiki
Welcome to the primary location for discussion of Umzamo and the Umzamo Wiki! Tombtainted Ideas For Tombtainted, here's what I'm thinking would be fitting: Level 1: Preditory Undead don't see them as prey (fitting because they don't give off the "vibe" of being quite alive), DR +3 (Your undead seem to have a fair amount of DR, I figure a DR of 3 would give them a hefty bonus without making them overpowered) Level 3: Ghost Touch on Perminantly; can go incorporeal for (WIS Mod) rounds and can be used (1 + CON Mod) times per day - CON Mod because turning into a ghost and back again has got to be tough on the body... physically, emotionally, gramatically... =P Level 6: Canibalizing humanoid flesh regains health (I REALLY like this idea). I could see this used in 2 ways: 1) You gain a bite attack, and regain health equal to the amount of damage you inflict. 2) You eat a corpse (as a full round action or out-of-combat) and regain health - how much is the question... gaining HP equal to the consumed character's CON would be pretty cool. I can just envision all of the party members' jaws drop when you devour a dead body... and any Paladins in the area would throw up a little. I suppose at this level DR could also get moved up to +5. Level 9: Enervating Touch (Level drains should be reserved for ONLY the most powerful/creepy beings) - I'm not entirely sure how this should work. The number of levels you can drain on an enemy should be equal to your Caster Level? I guess being a barbarian made me rather stupid in the way of magic. I'm sure Fayd would know more about how MPM should be factored into this. This should also be limited to once per encounter (at least) and take a full round action (at least). This is a pretty powerful feat, but I guess it comes at a price. Any holy person in the area instantly HATES you if they find out what you really are... and I suppose taking a bath in Holy Water would ruin your day as well. That should probably be reflected somewhere in the feat. Sorry, forgot to log in before I posed my thoughts on Tombtainted. Aasimar vs Tiefling Here are some thoughts on the Aasimar and Tiefling Heratages: These two heratige feats tend to be polar opposites of each other, similar to how fire is to ice. Aasimar are those who have celestial blood in their family tree (not to be confused with a half-angel), and Tieflings are those who have demon blood somewhere in their family tree (not to be confused with half-demons). The two feats should be fairly similar, but I can see Aasimar having more of a focus on unstoppable/ferocious holy wrath, while Tieflings should be more focused on stealth and ambushing - avoiding a fair fight if they can. 'Brainstorming for Aasmir' Appearance: They should grow a bit taller; their hair should turn gold, silver, or white; their eyes should glow gold, blue, or green (a la Cloud or Sephiroth in Final Fantasy VII); what exactly is chosen is of course at the descretion of the player. Possible cool things that could be done with this feat: - Darkvision - Bonus to Deception checks (your angel blood makes it easier to spot lies, and people tend to trust you if you look celestial) - Extra damage to Evil Subtypes - Quick healing? - Bonus to observation (a counter to those darn sneaky Tieflings) - Bonus to WIS and CHA (WIS will increase Willpower - fitting for someone who has lawful/good blood in them; CHA should be increased because they are just plain pretty and pleasant to be around... unless you are evil) - Imunity to Charm, Dominate Person, Mind Control, etc - whatever might make you a puppet or hinder you from charging into the fray and chopping bad guys into little pieces. - Bonus to Sense Motive - Restance to Elemental Damage? (They are Planar after all...) - At epic level, the ability to grow angelic wings and fly 'Brainstorming for Tiefling' Appearance: Horns, hooves, pointy teeth, forked tounges, faint smell of brimstone, red eyes, a pointy tail... any of these would be appropriate. They should also have an unsettling/uncomfortable air about them. Possible cool ideas that could be done with this feat: - Bonus to stealth - Darkvision - Fast Movement? - Resistance to Elemental Damage - Bonus to DEX and CHA (DEX because they are crafty little buggers; CHA because they are seductive - aka Gabraal the Younger) - Bonus to Charm, Mind Control, etc - whatever would enslave another being to your will. - The ability to Mesmerize their opponent for a certain number of rounds, for a certain number of times each day - Extra damage against good subtypes - Bonus to reflex saves - Bonus to slight of hand - At epic level, the ability to grow demonic wings and fly - They could channel their unholy urges and do extra damage a number of times per day; they could even dish out Vile damage. Well, I hope my brainstorming was at least a little helpful. As always Tam, feel free to take any ideas you like and discard any that you don't like. Monstrous Feat Idea: Had a thought for a monstrous feat: One with Magic, or Tireless Caster or something: You are not subject to the fatigue rules for casting. Basically, for Gandalf and such to keep the rules as they stand and have him still be imune to the fatigue rules. Tam OConnor: Gandalf *is* immune to fatigue, because he's an outsider, not a Mage. In addition, the Gish ability Armored Caster II also gives this ability. I believe it says on the Monstrous class page which ones are not fatigued from spellcasting. Fayd: Well, yes, at the moment. But it seems rather arbitrary to me as to what gets it and what doesn't. In addition, turning it into feat form enables it to be used with monstrously enhanced humanoids that didn't take the Gish Class to 6th level. The creatures that get it get it as part of their standard starting package, and it's available for other folks to pick up with their bonus monstrous feats. It just enables more choices for enemies. Tam OConnor: Random? Really? I supply my apparently obscure logic, then. Aberrations: no. Animals: no. Constructs: yes, because they're immune to fatigue. Dragons: yes, because they're practically the purest expression of magic possible, and built on 30pts. Elementals: yes, because they're immune to fatigue. Giant: no. Humanoid: no. Outsider: yes, because they're mostly made of magic, and are also a 30pt creature. Undead: yes, because they're immune to fatigue. My general rule is not to give out each classes schtick in feats, monstrous or otherwise. No way to get sneak attack with feats, or rage, or armored bulwark. Why should I make Gish less special? If I did, then why both with classes at all? Just turn the whole thing into a point-buy system. Fayd: Fair enough... I don't think I was entirely coherent when I wrote that anyway. Your logic makes sense (for both the assignments and the thing). My reasoning for it was to eliminate the facets of a monster that wasn't on the tables... I think. I'm still not entirely sure of my logic behind the thought. I think it had something to do with modular design or something. Dunno. Human Racial Paragon ideas/Proposal The following are potential ideas for the human racial paragon. Underlined Lines will denote justification for easy access. Human Racial Paragon HP: '''d6/d8 (''One die-step up from the humanoid level progression because heroic types are stronge''r) '''Class Skills: Observation, Profession, Craft, Survival, Knowledge(History), Knowledge(Current Events), Deception, Sense Motive, Gather information, Perform, Heal, Bonus feat: Any Feat (Humans, they're totally unique and diverse. They're the pick-your-own-feat people) Skill Bonus: +2 RANKS to any two skills of choice, +4 to gather information in predominantly human establishments. ' Enhanced Racial Abilities:' (I have no idea... except maybe +2 to all class skills) Ability Increase: Choose +2 to any one ability score or +1 to two ability scores (They're diverse) Epic Potential: ADAPTABILITY: 'Once per day, player may choose to add +2 to any ability score for the rest of the day, or a player can opt out of the daily ability score bonus to gain one free re-roll,, choosing the higher roll. (Humans are plucky creatures and they can and will do whatever it takes to survive. They will adapt, they will thrive, and they will find a way to defeat impossible situations.)'' ~Paul Bloodmage + Life Magic Well, I'm going to say that with an AoE burst of positive and negative energy, blood-mage's big 4d4 for six mana... is a bit unreasonable. Let's look at the life-magic. Present Damage Die is via d8. If specialization is still in, it becomes a d10, and heals are a minimum 5. '''1 Mana: AoE. 5 Mana- 5d10, Minimum five. Life cost is a maximum of 16. Life gain is a minimum of 25... in an AoE to everyone. My point, I do beleive, has been made. Tam OConnor: Forgetting the Concentration check (minimum DC 31, max DC 43 for a 6 mana spell). That aside, you have proved that something in there is overpowered. However, judging from Doomriders, I'm more inclined to believe that the specialization is a little overpowered. If it's still that way after specialization edits, I might bump the required action to regain mana up to a standard action. Remember, though, with another healer, or fast healing, it's close to infinite mana. Which is why there's a cap on mana spent at any one time. They'll just be impossible to run out of mana, which didn't happen very often anyway. Fayd and Keito ran out, what, twice? Fayd: Ran out to exhaustion? I think maybe 3 or 4 times, but only once in combat, for me. Think Keito hit it or got close more frequently than I did, but she both: Had other things to fall back on, and didn't have a freakishly high finesse stat and therefore freakishly huge mana pool. Also, I had a thought of a way to change the Life Specialization, if you think the current one is too strong: Enhanced Heal: You gain the ability to make additional heal checks on characters that have already benefitted from your use of the Heal skill. You gain a pool of extra uses equal to CL*(Some factor, probably Finesse mod, or some other similar formula). These uses are expended upon using a heal check on a creature that has already benefitted from your use of the heal skill. This is a magically derrived ability. While requiring no mana to be spent to use, it does require the character to have at least 1 point of mana. Genasi Ideas I think the Elemental subtype bonus of Genasi is nice, but now with a bunch of heritage feats with some very fun abilities, I feel like the feat is also somewhat boring. I came up with some ideas for ways to change it while (hopefully) not breaking the balance too much. Essentially, I'd like the backgrounds to have an active ability as well as a passive one. More ability variations could be created, similar to Tieflings, I'm just tired and lost some of my creative steam writing this. The feat remains as it stands now, save for the following changes: Basic: In addition, choose one of the following: Epic: ''Increase the power of your chosen ability, or choose a second basic one. ''Elemental Affinity: Gain a +2 bonus to certain skills related to your element: (The following are suggestions, feel free to change, however I feel that 3 is a good number for the number of skills affected). At Epic, the bonus increases to +4. Elemental Attunement: ''Gain conscious (and unconscious) control over your element. Spellcraft uses with element increases by +2/+4 (Basic/Epic) ~ Fayd Racial Paragon Project Feel free to post ideas for the Racial Paragons here. Here's a good template: Race: Subrace: Class Skill : 1st: Bonus feat: Fitting for race. ''(Comments/Justification in Italics next to suggestions) Skill Bonus: +2 to 3 skills 2nd: Special: Save bonuses, movement bonuses, special senses, etc. 3rd: Ability Increase: Choose one of: +2 to one physical or one mental stat, appropraite for the race. Epic Potential: If level 6 (or when character attains 6th level): Some feat, sometimes with restrictions. Lesser Monstrous are common (don't use Greater Monstrous, please) though sometimes "regular" feats are also used. Leave the tables, we're working on them. Gnoll: Low: Class Skills: No idea 1st: Bonus feat: Gain Resist Precise 5 or +4 saves vs. Mind-affecting, whichever was not chosen at character creation, and/or the Lesser Monstrous Feat Constricting Tail. (Based on Yuan-ti after all, snake people.) Skill Bonus: +2 to 3 skills. No idea here. 2nd: Special: Save bonuses, movement bonuses, special senses, etc. 3rd: Ability Increase: Choose one of: +2 to Dex or +2 Wis Epic Potential: If level 6 (or when character attains 6th level): Skindancer and Shapechanger (Male elf, snake only. Possibiltiy of minor aberration as well, don't know) Positive Energy Wind of the Heavens OR - "And so he punched the little girl in the face and cured her of her blindness." - Question in regards to the feat Wind of the Heavens: The text of the feat reads as such: : You can infuse your attacks with energy damage. Base': Choose an energy type. At your discretion, weapon (including unarmed strikes and improvised weapons) damage that you deal can be of the energy type chosen, instead of the normal descriptor. Armor piercing weapons retain that quality.' Epic: You may choose an additional energy type. Once per encounter, you may make an attack explode into a 30ft burst of energy of the appropriate type, dealing ULd6 damage (Reflex DC 10 + UL + Wis or Cha mod for half). You are not damaged by this burst. After discussion with Fayd, I had suggested the idea of using Wind of the Heavens to infuse attacks with positive energy, in a fashion similar to lay-on-hands. At base level, this would let someone like, say, Fluffy... Carve a dying man back to life. Even within the Umzamo/UL realm itself, if it is paired with Brawler, Unarmed Mastery, Hardstyle, and Ring the Golden bell, unarmed attacks would be 5d6 at range for no mana with the possibility of a 3x (or even 4x crit, if you add in combat-style for one's unarmed strikes.) Umzamo dice could also be utilized to further improve the healing, adding another 5d6 per Umzamo die added. As the joke in the headline goes, "And so he punched the little girl in the face and cured her of her blindness." - For no mana. At range. Edit: Cons, added for justification in keeping it in: *Must hit standard AC. *Reduced by DR *Consumes a feat *There is no spoon? (Yeah, the cons are few...) *Fayd: Overhealing your target and making them explode? It's certainly something to be thought about, in regards to whether or not the allowal of positive/negative energy usage for Wind of the Heavens is unfair or not. I think it's something to consider leaving in, personally, but of course, that's not my decision. Fayd: At the same time, a positive/negative energy Wind of the Heavens user kind of simulates a chi-master... power over the life force in the body kind of thing. Tam: I'm not sure what it is about the words 'add an extra damage die' that's vague. It'd be plus 1d6 of damage per die spent. Also, blindness is a status condition and not hp damage. In the original version of this feat, you couldn't take a damage type that healed yourself. I wondering, for simplicity's sake, if I should just prohibit (+) & (-) energy use by that feat. Paul: I know about the blindness not being HP damage. Admittedly, I just wanted to use that line. Also, what determines what die to use, then? Paul's second edit: For those who still wanted this, something to consider would be allowing Positive and negative energy, but by choosing to do so, they'd only be dealing half damage. Tam: Easier to just remove it. And doing so, unless there are strenuous objections. Fayd: The only possible objection I can think of is that it removes the possibility of the "Yin-Yang" Chi-martial artist type of thing in a very mechanical sense. It's... a single character concept. Over a possibly VERY broken feat, I think the concept can take the fall. Paul had the thought of using + and - energy only deal half "damage" at any given time, but...dunno. Could work, could be unnecissary. Tam: You want Daoism? Punch people and put ranks in Heal. Not worth the trouble of infinite healing. Paul: Unicorn Style has solved this. Thank you! Tam: On that subject, Basilisk Style, Elder Serpent Style and Unicorn Style are what replaced the Dragon Touch feat. One rogue, one bow, one really, really big hit. So, as a matter of asking questions about feat compatability... Take the following variables: *We have a rogue with sneak-attack *6+ BAB. *He has Combat Style. *He as murderous intent. *He has been affected by "Inspire greatness" *Has sniper For such, I offer up the following questions: (This is working under the information I was given that stated a coup de grace is an autocrit; clarification on that would be useful in the rules section.) Questions: #Would the rogue be able to apply combat style's epic ultimate BABd6 ultimate technique along with sneak attack? #Would the rogue be able to utilize murderous intent to crit on the aforementioned attack, or just benefit from helpless/Snkattack? #How would damage be calculated for it? Would it be the (BABd6+SnAtk+Weapon)xCRITmodifier, WeaponxCRITmodifier+BABd6+SnAtk, or etc Paul M. 06:26, June 12, 2010 (UTC)Paul 1) Yes. 2) Yes. 3) Only weapon damage is multiplied on a critical. So (weapon damage x critical modifier) + (sneak attack + ultimate technique). In order to get the sneak attack, though, you'd have to be within 60ft (with Sniper, 30ft without). Tam OConnor 07:47, June 12, 2010 (UTC) Alright, assuming one is using a shortbow with the 1d8 Weapon damage, in place of the Ultimate-technique of BABd6, could umzamo dice be added for weapon damage? (Could they both work, unlikely as that sounds?) *How much damage/what dice would this be? *Is it simply added into the original up to maximum damage, or beyond? *Would the extra damage-die count towards the crit-damage? Paul M. 23:44, June 12, 2010 (UTC) Assuming a 10th level rogue with sneak attack, a Str of 10, having put neither of his specializations into BAB or UL. His BAB is +6, his UL is 4. His relevant feats are Combat Style, Murderous Intent and Sniper. He is using a basic shortbow (1d8/x3, no bonus to attack or damage). He is under to influence of the epic usage of Inspiration, inspire greatness. He is using Manticore style, and no opponents are within 10ft. Uses epic usage of Murderous Intent to treat opponent within 60ft as helpless. Because he is attempting to coup-de-grace with a ranged weapon, he still has to roll to hit. If he does hit, though, it is treated as a critical hit. Uses epic usage of Murderous Intent to coup-de-grace as a swift action. Assuming he hits, and puts both Umzamo dice and his bonus die from using Manticore style into damage: (1d8 bow damage + 3d8 weapon damage from Umzamo dice + 1 Style) x 5 (base bow critical modifier x3, + 1 usage of Combat style + 1 usage of Inspiration: inspire greatness) + 5d6 (sneak attack) + 6d6 (epic usage of Combat Style) Minimum damage: (5 x 5) + (5 + 6) = 36 damage Maximum damage: (33 x 5) + (30 + 36) = 231 damage Average damage: (18 x 5) + (17.5 + 21) = 128.5 damage It's nice, but recall that Fluffy was dealing out 50+ damage criticals at first level. And this combo only starts at 7th level, and that's pouring five feats into it, and having a friend on hand with Inspiration. Tam OConnor 00:37, June 13, 2010 (UTC) Well, mostly this was a question regarding how to make a skill-monkey with high Dex/Wis/Int/Cha combat-viable. I also wondered if sneak-attack could be multiplied with the crit. Thanks for clearing that all up for me. That, and the idea of a sniper with a once-per encounter guaranteed crit (paired with murderous intent's second hit into falling into the negatives) makes the idea of a sniper just seem kinda' fun.) The other thought is that arrowstorm+sneak attack would be pretty amusing. Another part of this was also to clear up how some of the Umzamo Die stuff added into things. One of my questions was regarding the extra damage-die and how that worked, because when I previously talked about the Wind of the Heavens thing, I mentioned adding another 5d6 to the attack roll, and you responded with "what do people not get about adding another damage die." Well, 5d6 was what the single hit would have been with the +x die steps up, so... I was wondering how all that worked. Had me confused. It was 7 steps up from a 1d6, whatever that was. And since I'm here for clarification on a few things anyway, I'm looking at wyrdbreaker. Could a person use wyrdbreaker to guarantee a crit, or does a roll only 'succeed,' as in, meeting the minimum requirement to hit? Or, could a person say "I will critically poison this guy" as their declared fate to make the enemy roll a 1 on their save? Paul M. 09:38, June 13, 2010 (UTC) I'll put up an example of Umzamo dixce in action sometime next week. Also: distinguish between die steps (1d4 -> 1d6 -> 1d8, etc) and extra damage dice (1d6 -> 2d6 -> 3d6). Wyrdbreaker is your fate; can't use it to modify others die rolls. And it is succeed, not critically succeed. Tam OConnor 15:41, June 13, 2010 (UTC) 'RAGE! '''And how it should work. Method one (current) : *Great for multiclassing and dipping. *Not as powerful as option 2, and therefore not as "Awesome" feeling. *Judging by Fluffy, the number of rages tends to be irrelevant. Method Two: *Not spectacular for multiclassing or dipping. *Incredibly awesome feeling to activate. *This means the number of times a barbarain can rage isn't related to how strong they are, which works. The duration, after all, is already dependant upon a stat. Double Jeopardy and all that. Ritual Magic - Page Request Tam, a formal request for the current rituals to be put down, and also for a place to put ideas for new ones, to be balanced. Also, so I can get the thing off of my desktop: Sample Ritual: Monster-Ring This ritual requires a ring of great worth (9000 lunas), set with red rubies and white pearl in a particular pattern. The monster to be captured must have the Extraplanar subtype. The first part of the ritual consumes eight hours as the caster meditates over the ring, chanting sacred songs. The second part of the ritual is the combat with the chosen creature, while chanting the sacred songs. The chosen monster must make a Will save every time the caster presents the ring (full-round action to present; DC varies). Should the monster fail its Will save, it is drawn into the ring, to be summoned forth at a later date (a standard action). A creature called forth may not listen to your commands if it has more levels than you. Returning a creature to the ring is a move action. If the creature is destroyed while summoned, the ritual is broken Ritual Ideas: Animal Familiar Planar Servitor (Outsiders/elementals) Created Companion (constructs) Ghastly Thrall (undead) Bound Item (Item Familiar) : Hard to say exactly. Simulates a psion's Psycrystal, sentient weapons, things like the swords from Bleach, etc. Could be a Mage's staff, granting bonuses to casting. Tam: Craft Construct feat; and we've got enchanting for personal items. But I'll add the page. Fayd: Well, yes, I know. Caft Construct would be a prerequisite of Created Companion. The rituals turn existing creatures into familiars of the caster. Thing is, the whole point of ritual magic is to accomplish things you otherwise wouldn't be able to do, either because you don't have the spheres (Dresden Case study) or that you aren't high enough level (subsidizing mana with time and materials.) It could be one way to make enchantments without the Enchantment sphere...it just has a cost, in health or attributes and especially money. Paul: In regards to the item familiars, a reasonable baseline for what other things it could be like is what the heart of the burning woods was. Essentially a familiar that fuses with or primarily interacts with the master, either enhancing it or casting for it. Something to think about. Random Comments Section Just noticed: Favored enemy does not allow Evil or Necrotic outsiders. Intended? Also: Should we clean up the resolved issues or leave them for posterity? No, unintended. Fixing. I'm for purging resolved issues, but I'm not set on it. Tam OConnor 01:07, June 18, 2010 (UTC) Fayd: I'm for purging the oldest ones. Paul's Misc. Suggestions. ''So, recently I've done a lot of re-looking at feats and things and came up with the following proposals. The DCs may be a bit off, as I'm not super-familiar with how some of these things should/do work, but I think I've come up with a reasonable solution to at least a few potential player-gripes. Wind of the Heavens: Epic: You may choose an additional energy type. Additionally, Every hour, your body generates and stores up a charge of your chosen energy type, storing a total of charges up to your UL. At any time, you may release any number of these charges to release a 30ft burst of energy of the appropriate type, dealing the same number of d6s in damage. (Reflex DC 10 + UL + Wis or Cha mod for half) You are not damaged by this burst. (This eliminates the 'per day' gripe that many individuals have about the 'per-encounter-battle-session' systems.) Example: A level 6 martial artist with a UL of Six has been resting for 6 hours. He has six 'charges.' He can: Do 6 1d6 bursts Do 2 3d6 bursts Do 1 6d6 burst Do 1d6 burst, then a 5d6 burst. Do 1 1d6 burst, wait an hour, and do a 6d6 burst. Missile storm/Whirlwind strike: On Crits: Upon getting a crit, perhaps it should be that a player rolls again only to confirm other crits, rather than hitting. (With this system, a crit actually has the capacity to lower the total damage done to a target, where rolling a 19 could have done more.) I suspect many players would be irritated by rolling a twenty, only to have their total effectiveness cut. Yes, they may crit against that one enemy, dealing 2x or 3x damage, but those other five guys (or 10+ with whirlwind strike) could go entirely unharmed. Also, about whips: with the current description of a whip counting as either usable as a reach melee or thrown ranged weapon, whips can be used with missile storm. '' '''Intuitive Strike' Epic: You may use your Wisdom Modifier in place of your Strength Modifier for your melee damage rolls. You also gain the ability to make a strike that ignores hardness and DR upon a successful concentration check. Each strike puts mental strain the user; therefore, every additional strike made before resting (time-period?) becomes increasingly difficult; (Another to counter the 'per-day' critics) Sniper's once-per-day ability to ignore total cover: similar to my proposed intuitive strike, survival or observation check. (Possibly opposing an enemy's stealth-check, either instead or in addition?) Combat Style: '''Epic: '''The critical multiplier for school weapons is increased by one (x2->x3, etc). When wielding a school weapon, you may use the ultimate technique of your school, dealing an extra BABd6 damage on a single attack that round. The ultimate technique of your school is extremely physically demanding, however. Consecutive uses before rest result in dropping two stages of fatigue per attempt. Attempts made below at or fatigued level must be made with an endurance check. If the check fails by less than 10, you fall unconcious at the end of the round. If the check fails by more than 10, you fall unconscious in the attempt. [[User:Paul M.|Paul M. 17:21, June 18, 2010 (UTC)]]